One time, a group of strangers on the internet got mad at me for pretending to eat a maggot. How did we get here, you ask? Let’s take a step back in time twenty years to find out.
In 2001, I was fresh out of college and working as a naturalist at Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul. There, I learned how to tap maple trees for syrup, make paper out of dried grass, identify animals by their tracks in the snow, and turn dandelion flowers into State Fair mini donuts. As you might imagine, I loved it.
One of my fellow naturalists Pete Cleary loved to shock kids by introducing them to mysterious, gross, strange, and edible aspects of nature. (Side note: Pete is still there. Go to one of his classes and you’ll love it!) One of his favorite tricks was to cut open a goldenrod gall while hiking in the prairie, dare a kid in the group to eat the larval insect inside, and then eat one himself to prove that it could be done. Unlike Pete, I am a big wuss, and could never actually eat the bug.
If we fast forward to present time, you’ve likely heard that pollinator species around the world are at risk due to loss of habitat and the pervasive use of insecticides such as neonicotinoids. In Minnesota, the statewide Lawns to Legumes program (soon to be renamed Pollinator Pathways) was created in 2019 to help people plant native gardens, bee lawns, and flowering native trees in their yards to provide food and habitat for monarch butterflies, rusty patched bumblebees, ruby throated hummingbirds, and other pollinator species. Numerous organizations, including Pollinator Friendly Alliance and Monarch Joint Venture are also advocating for pollinator-friendly policies and working with local government to restore habitat in priority locations.
Ironically, however, people sometimes harm the very species they are trying to help by rushing out into their yards too early in the spring to cut down dead vegetation and rake leaves out of their garden beds. In fact, many species of insects, include native bees, lay their eggs in the dried hollow stems of perennial plants to overwinter, pupate, and emerge in the spring when warm temperatures return. The leaves on the ground in woodlands and garden beds shelter a variety of tiny creatures as well, including luna moths in cocoons; salamanders, toads and skinks that hibernate underground beneath the frost line; and the queen bees of many native bee species.
Here is where we finally arrive back at the maggot I pretended to eat! If you’ve ever been out hiking in a prairie full of goldenrod, you may have noticed that some of the goldenrod plants have round balls in the middle of their stems. There is a species of fly called the goldenrod gall fly, Eurosta solidagnis, that completes its entire life cycle only on goldenrods. The females lay their eggs inside the goldenrod stems in the spring and, because that annoys the plant, it forms a ball around the larva as it grows. Chickadees and woodpeckers will drill into the goldenrod galls to eat the larva inside, and if you have a pocketknife or a sharp set of teeth, you can also open the gall to get at the larva. Some people even use them for ice fishing.
Long story short, I’ve always been a firm believer that people remember what they see and experience, not the words you tell them. I can tell you that there are bees overwintering in the dried flower stalks in your garden, but sometimes it’s hard to believe unless you see it with your own eyes. So, I made a short educational video, bit open a goldenrod gall (I strongly recommend against doing it that way – yuk!) and pretended to eat the maggot inside.
Now that you know, don’t you feel a little bit angry too? That poor baby fly was just trying to live and do its goldenrod gall thing, and I pretended to eat it just so that people would know there are beneficial insects hiding in your garden plants, waiting for the real, true spring to arrive!
So, don’t be like me. Wait until the daytime temperatures are consistently above 50°F (not just occasionally) until you cut back your gardens and clear out your leaves. Until then, leave some for the birds and bees, skinks and salamanders, and even the goldenrod gall flies.
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